Home Sweet Home

I was with my family in the home bound flight. We arrived KLIA on Saturday morning, 2 days before the school started. The Saturday was a recovery day. So I only had one Sunday to spend outdoor with my family. My grandmother, my mother and my mother-in-law joined us on a half day trip to Melaka, the place in this planet where both my maternal and paternal ancestors once lived. It was also a place where I used to be kept in a boarding school in a little town called Jasin. It was the place I used to cycle from Jasin to Ayer Keroh with my fellow team mates of Kelab Kembara. It was the place I met my first love. It was also the same place this old friend of mine met hers. We went to a river cruise and then witnessed the sunset and got stuffed with so much seafood at Restoran Terapung Umbai.

The day has come for my daughter, Aimi to begin her schooling adventure. She is attending a religious school in the morning and a primary school in the afternoon as a standard one pupil. From here it will be a long journey of discovery of her intellectual, emotional, social and physical capabilities. She will have to learn, make mistakes, relearn and continuously learn to live up to her own expectations as well as others. Along the way she will meet and mix with others who will bring her laughter, smiles, joy as well as tears. As a parent I can only pray that she will have a life well-lived with limitless education.

My son, Hadiff is a senior now in his pre-school. At school he is as jovial as ever. But he is the happiest, the moment he is on his way out of the school gate. And when he returns home to play, he gets lonely and is missing his sister, his playmate for years. His mood is lifted again as his sister returns from school in the evening. With school from morning to evening, Aimi gets tired and gets to sleep between 9 and 10PM. Hadiff is left alone again and there is little to distract him from focusing on his school work. A good development for this hyper-active boy.

My wife was busy sorting our photos in Dubai and arranging them in 2 albums. In doing so I know part of her mind is planning ahead the work to be done after her long 3 weeks leave from her hectic work at UMMC. She has completed her masters and specialization in internal medicine. I am determined to be back in August 2009 to see her on her graduation day, for I still feel bad to miss her last MBBS graduation in Tasmania some 9 years ago. Insyallah. She has a big decision to make on whether to sub-specialize in cardiology or neurology. I hope she makes the right choice.

I had been with my loved ones for 3 great weeks. I was soaked with their presence that the moment I left them at the airport I felt a sudden vacuum and emptiness that took me to recover longer than the jet-lag. But life goes on.....